From an RPF standpoint, Kimi & Gabi are such an interesting duo, because of the implications.
Full dissection below:
They’re both the rookies that Max holds in highest regard. Max has frequently praised Gabriel, from his driving skills to his work ethic to his character. For Kimi, Max has claimed that he sees a lot of himself in Kimi. However, despite this connection, Kimi and Gabi seem the most distant to each other compared to the other rookies. Gabriel was asked about the rookies that he found the most impressive, and he had a very nice answer, but notably he didn’t mention Kimi (he did mention Franco though, time at 9:13).
The first thing of note is that Kimi is by far the most media trained rookie, and I would argue that Gabi is one of the least media trained. I think it’s more that Kimi seems to lean into the media, with the Senna grave photo shoot, the profile picture blackout during the ridiculous hate campaign, even the way he answered ‘the best moment of the season’ question (which he got clowned for by Ollie and Gabi). It gives professional, clean, polished.
And sure, Gabriel is quite good during media days as he’s able to give really good answers to curveball questions without giving the impression that he’s been trained on what to say and how to say it. It feels authentic.
In a similar vein, Gabriel has the fuck-you mentality. He has demanded that he and Hulk swap positions due to race pace, makes aggressive dives, and frequently battles his own mentor without holding back.
It’s not like Kimi isn’t competitive, he definitely is. But I don’t think he’s developed the fuck you mentality yet. The clearest example I can think of is that it seems like he genuinely felt like he caused lando to win the championship because he didn’t defend enough in Qatar, which is like. Well no. Max isn’t your teammate, you shouldn’t really care about this.
The other thing is that despite the fuck-you mentality, the other drivers that Gabriel is close to seem to genuinely like him as a person. Like when you see interviews about Gabi, it’s always about three things: he’s fast, he always wants to learn, and he’s a really sweet guy. Which can be seen in the way that Gabi seems so open to celebrating his friends results.
Now I’m not saying that they don’t like Kimi as a person, but it feels like Gabi has already established himself as a peer, while Kimi still feels like a kid (because he is). But at the same time, the relationship you build with someone you see as a friend/equal will always be different than someone you see as a mentee. And I don’t mean to keep bringing up Max, but at this point in time it really seems that he sees Gabi as his friend and Kimi as a younger coworker that he cares about and helps out.
It also doesn’t help that Mercedes is inherently more competitive than Sauber/Audi. Kimi would never collaborate with George the way Nico and Gabi do, because it would be bad for their careers. The cost of having a good car is having another competitor.
Idk it’s just an interesting dichotomy. Like one is established with his car and his brand but not his mentality, the other is established with his mentality but not the car and his brand. And with time, of course it’ll even out. They’re both extremely talented and I can see them being on the grid for a long time so this dynamic will obviously change and evolve, but right now it makes for such an interesting complex duo.
